Plane Karma
I'm in California. Specifically, I'm at Stanford, visiting Mosh. After I left work on Friday, I headed to the airport, as I had already packed. Being wary of traffic, I gave myself a fair amount of time, but I still made an attempt to listen to an AM radio station to get the traffic report. As I switched from my CD to the radio, I caught the tail end of a weather report. It wasn't followed by traffic, so I assumed that the traffic report was first. After listening to 50 minutes of people calling into a talk show, I heard no traffic report. 50 minutes! I hate the stupid radio. I should've just kept listening to my CDs.

I had some trouble finding a parking spot that wasn't on the top deck, where my car would've roasted, but otherwise things went smoothly. Except for the part where as I checked in, it was determined that my connecting flight (out of Denver) was already delayed. However, this did mean I would be less rushed, trying to worm my way through the terminal.

The flight to Denver was fairly full. But because I had booked my tickets so long ago, I was comfortably seated in my aisle seat. Shortly afterwards, however, a flight attendant asked me if I would be willing to switch seats. There was a man sitting next to me, and his wife (carrying their toddler) was seated immediately behind him. At first, they asked the man behind me (next to the woman) if he would be willing to move. He asked if the change would be to another aisle seat, but since the couple occupied two middle seats, it was clear that would not be the case. She asked me if I was willing to change, offering a free cocktail (the same offer was made to the man behind me), but she didn't wait for an answer, thankfully. I didn't want to change my seat, but I knew that if the request was made of me, I wouldn't be able to say no.

As more passengers loaded onto the flight, it was apparent their options for sitting next to each other were rapidly dwindling. I told them I would move into the woman's seat. Part of this was a good Samaritan move, but I was also motivated by the consideration that if the man behind me gave in first, I could conceivably have a kicking child behind me. I said it was likely I would sleep through the entire flight anyway (I had been up since 11pm), as I offered my seat.

I settled into the new seat, growing numb from my sleeplessness. I reasoned to myself that this was good karma, and that it didn't really matter if I was on the aisle. Besides, I had given up an aisle seat on a trans-Pacific flight before; this three-hour jaunt would be nothing. Still, as I sat there, I couldn't help letting my annoyance fester. There was a reason I booked my flight in February, and it wasn't just for good airfare; I wanted to make sure I got the seat I wanted. It was this couple's own fault that they had booked their ticket at such a time (or with such carelessness) that they weren't sitting next to each other. I shouldn't have had to relinquish the seat I deserved! And honestly, could they not stand to be apart for three short hours? Maybe that could be construed as endearing, but in my mind it was mostly pitiable and sad. The flight attendant, who had been elsewhere when I volunteered my seat, returned to the area, gently rubbed my shoulder in an grateful manner, and then offered me a beer. I thanked her but explained that I didn't drink; I wanted to be clear what a wonderful person I was, doing this out of the pure goodness of my heart.

The trans-Pacific flight had been different. In that case, it was a woman and her young child (perhaps around eight years of age) who were separated. I was sympathetic to the fact that it would be a long flight for the child to be trapped alone, bored to tears. And I could never say "no." I was the type of person who secretly hoped he would never be asked but would never refuse, if the request were made. The same applies to most transplant surgeries.

I managed to sleep for a short period of time, but I soon woke up, tense and yearning to land. Once we reached Denver, I saw that my connection was even further delayed. However, there was a flight to San Francisco (I was booked for San Jose) leaving in a few minutes. As I approached the gate counter, I asked about getting on the flight, hoping the karma I had just earned would have a quick turn-around. Unfortunately, it wasn't the case. So I had to kill another hour before getting onto my original flight. Thankfully, no one asked to change seats with me.

I'm still waiting for the karmic return on that 10+ hour flight.
- posted by roger @ 1:13 AM